Once again Houston goes against the national norm reported in "Degrees not paying off for many grads" (Page A1, Monday). The article reported that 54 percent of persons under 25 years of age holding a bachelor's degree were jobless last year.

My concern is that all undergraduate majors are lumped together in this statistic. Some undergraduate majors have higher potential for employment than others. Here is one example: Since my arrival in 2005, the College of Business (consisting of majors in accounting, finance, computer information systems, marketing, management, business management, insurance and risk management, and supply chain management) has surveyed its graduating class one year after graduation, e.g., the May 2010 class was surveyed in May 2011 to determine if the graduates had obtained a position, and if so, was it in the field for which they had studied and prepared for in college?

Sixty-two percent of the business graduates over the five-year period responded positively to the question, "How do you regard your current position? I am in a 'career track position' or I am in a professional position that will serve as a 'springboard' to other possibilities."

Because a large percentage of UH Downtown's student work at full-time jobs, one question we asked was "Did the obtaining of the degree lead to a promotion?" Twenty-six percent of the graduates responded "yes" over the five-year period.

Only three percent of the graduates on the average were pursuing graduate degrees and only seven percent responded they were underemployed - in a position that did not require their bachelor of business administration degree.

Furthermore, fewer than 11 percent of the business graduates took more than six months to find the position. Given the large number of our business students who work full time, almost 40 percent of the graduates continued with their current employer and were rewarded with a promotion or a transfer. The most frequent source of the contact leading to the hiring was continued with current employer, second leading was "networking" with friends and family, and third was responding to an Internet posting.

These are radically different results than reported in the cited article. Perhaps students and parents should give more thought to the selection of a major when entering college.

The University of Houston Downtown's College of Business emphasis on "Reality-based business education - it is good for you" represents more than a slogan. It is good for the College of Business graduates because they are highly sought after by Houston-based businesses and it is good for Houston-based businesses because they are able to hire a skilled graduate with a well-developed work ethic who can hit the ground running and make a positive impact on the organization.

Perhaps that is why the College of Business' performance is against the reported norm.